Abstract:

The concept workspace increasingly makes an appearance in syntactic theory, yet it is rarely well defined, and its theoretical and empirical significance has often been overlooked. I identify at least two extant species of workspace prevalent in the literature, and I suggest an unattested formulation. I consider how differing instantiations of the workspace interact with other derivational apparatus such as Minimal Search and the Extension Condition. I also explore how the properties of the workspace may have empirical consequences for phenomena such as Merge-over-Move/Move-over-Merge effects. Other empirical domains which have the potential to be connected to properties of the workspace are also discussed.